Fried Chicken

Happy Labor Day weekend! Since it's a long weekend and the official end of summer, my first LA roommate and I decided to go to the beach. Now when we go to the beach we don't just bring some towels and water, we go all out. What that means is that she makes her tasty and portable mojitos and I make fried chicken. We are aware that this is a somewhat odd combination in theory, but in practice, at the beach it's perfect for us. And we've never gotten any complaints from anyone who has joined us. Below is my fried chicken recipe. I apologize if the measurements are off, but this is one I totally improvise and you should too when you make it.

Fried Chicken
serves 4

8 chicken legs (these are the easiest to eat when sitting on a towel at the beach, but of course any part of the chicken works)
2 tbsp Montreal steak spice or any other comparable spice blend
1 tbsp ground chipotle pepper or chili powder
1 1/2 cups of mustard (I prefer Gulden's spicy brown)
2 cups all purpose flour
Water
Vegetable oil

1. Place chicken legs in a bowl and sprinkle with the spices. If you don't have or want to use Montreal steak spice, you can separately use salt, pepper, garlic, crushed red pepper, etc.
2. Fill the bowl with water to cover the chicken half way. Mix it all up. This can also be done in a Ziploc bag. Let it marinate in the fridge for a few hours, I usually let it sit overnight if I making the chicken in the morning, or all day if I am making it for dinner.
3. When the chicken is done marinating, pull it from the water and set aside. Reserve 1-2 cups of the marinating liquid.
4. Fill a nonstick frying pan halfway with vegetable oil and start it heating at medium high.
5. Mix the mustard with the reserved marinating liquid.
6. When the oil is heated, dip one leg in the mustard mixture, then dredge in the flour, return to the mustard and dredge in the flour one more time. Then drop into the heated oil. If the oil is heated properly, it should sizzle and bubble slightly as the chicken is dropped in. Repeat this with the remaining pieces of chicken. Chicken legs take approximately 10 mins each (5 minutes per side) to cook through.
7. As each piece is finished remove to drain on paper towels and sprinkle with salt & pepper while still hot. Enjoy!

The mustard adds a really nice tangy flavor to this that you don't often get with traditional fried chicken. Hope you enjoy!